rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 rss_modified:rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 http://www.gamespot.com/mashup/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:42:18 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/wii-sports-club-review/1900-6415837/ Wii Sports is an undeniably important game to the whole of gaming history. Its status as a pack-in with the original Wii was responsible for getting the console into millions of homes (and breaking a few TVs), but it also signaled a significant change in player demographics that had been a long time coming. As the Wii U struggles to gain the sort of consumer traction its predecessor had, Nintendo has reissued the now-classic Wii Sports package, updated with a bevy of new bells and whistles. But while Wii Sports was forward-thinking in its ability to engage a different set of game players, Wii Sports Club is a clunky attempt to bring the title up to the standards of current games.
Wii Sports Club features the five original sports from its predecessor: Tennis, Bowling, Golf, Baseball, and Boxing. On a fundamental level, these play similarly to the original game, requiring the player to perform various motions to simulate the acts of swinging a racket, throwing a ball, or launching a punch. The Wii MotionPlus (or a Wii Remote with Wii MotionPlus built-in) is mandatory, and the additional range of gyroscopic control it provides adds a little bit more depth to these games: in Tennis, for example, it's a lot easier to control the type of swings you get than it was with the original Wii Remote, leading to greater control of the ball. Other games utilize the GamePad: in Golf, you position the GamePad on the floor, where it depicts the ball; you then swing the Wii Remote over the pad to hit the ball. Baseball lets you use the GamePad's gyroscopic features to pitch and catch the ball, which is a clever and fun new addition to the formula. For the most part, however, Wii Sports Club is all about that time-tested Wii Remote waggling.
Besides the main games, Wii Sports Club also features mini-games that put twists on the various sports, like launching a tennis ball to hit whack-a-mole targets, trying to bowl down unusual 100-pin patterns, and playing bingo by launching golf balls onto a grid. These games can be played solo or with friends (though not online), and make for a nice distraction if you get bored of the standard sports. These games are all quite short, however, so don't expect to be enthralled by them for very long.
One of the selling points of Wii Sports Club is its online features, and unfortunately, it's here where the collection falters the hardest. When you start the game, you're asked to join a regional "club" of your personal choosing. This isn't restricted by physical geography; I live in California, but I joined the Iowa club because I grew up in that state. You're supposed to socialize with other members of your club, forming friendships and rivalries with other territory clubs, but such socialization is uncommon because the online experience is simply not good at all.
For starters, online play is restricted to very basic rules for each sport, with only bowling featuring any sort of significant rule variations to choose from. Finding opponents is also a challenge. I'd log on during prime time in the evenings, weekends and weekdays, pick my sport of choice, and be sent to a practice room where I'd wait for an opponent for a few minutes before being told the game couldn't find anyone and I would be booted back to the menu. I had the most luck finding people to play Tennis, but trying to find a person to play 100-pin Bowling was like pulling teeth. Looking at the game's Miiverse, I saw plenty of folks discussing their online games with others, so why wasn't I getting any sporting funtimes?
It has much to do with the game's netcode. Wii Sports Club has serious, pervasive problems with lag and stuttering during games. Players in the Miiverse universally reported the same issues, making online play a bust. But beyond the online, how is Wii Sports Club at recapturing the magic of the original Wii Sports and getting non-typical players engaged in the game? I invited a few people I knew who aren't frequent game-players to partake in some virtual sporting with me. While they all seemed to enjoy the games--especially the new mini-games--the GamePad options proved troublesome. (There was a lot of worry about people and pets accidentally stepping on the controller during golf in particular.) There's simply no substantial improvement here--nothing to make the re-release a valuable upgrade over the original.
On top of everything is a rather confusing pricing structure: You can obtain the game as either a free download or in a retail package, but the downloadable version only lets you play for a limited time before you have to purchase a $1.99 24-hour "day pass" or unlimited access to individual sports for $9.99 each. The package version doesn't have any such restrictions, save for the minor inconvenience of having to take the disc in and out of the console, so why not offer a simple, full-access download version as well?
Wii Sports Club is emblematic of Nintendo's strange and silly approach to online games and distribution, given its unintuitive interface for finding sports partners, the consistently poor connection quality, and a pricing strategy that makes little sense. It works a lot better as a local game, but even then, it's not a massive improvement over the original title as a pick-up-and-play party pleaser. It's still great fun, particularly in short bursts, but it's hard to justify plunking down extra cash for Wii Sports Club.
]]> 1900-6415837Thu, 07 Aug 2014 17:49:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-casey-hudson-leaves-bioware-wii-u-name-is-/2300-6420661/ 2300-6420661Thu, 07 Aug 2014 16:21:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/quick-look-mind-path-to-thalamus/2300-6420651/ 2300-6420651Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-build-the-ultimate-s/2300-6420656/ 2300-6420656Thu, 07 Aug 2014 12:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassins-creed-unity-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-and-/1100-6421556/
EB Games has announced the line-up of games that will be present at this year's EB Expo. Upcoming releases that will be featured at the show include Assassin's Creed: Unity, Far Cry 4, Evolve, Sunset Overdrive, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Battlefield Hardline, and LittleBigPlanet 3.
Several games scheduled for release in 2015 will also be present at the show, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Driveclub, Project Cars, and Dragon Ball Xenoverse. Attendees who play Skylanders: Trap Team at the event will also be able to receive an exclusive free Gearshift Trap Master Character before it goes on sale in 2015.
EB Expo 2014 will be held at the Sydney Showground from October 3 for three days. This year's event marks the fourth time the expo will be held since it first opened to public in 2011. The GameSpot Australia team will be present at this year's event, so be sure to stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates.
]]> 1100-6421556Wed, 06 Aug 2014 22:10:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-york-university-to-offer-bachelors-degree-in-v/1100-6421555/
An undergraduate program for video game design at the New York University Game Center was approved by the New York Education Department last month.
Reported on The New York Times, the NYU Game Center, a department within the Tisch School of the Arts, will soon be accepting applicants for a bachelor of fine arts in game design. Twenty students from within NYU are expected to be accepted into the program in January. They will be followed by 40 first-year applicants starting in Fall 2015.
Game Center director Frank Lantz said that the undergraduate degree would help students to understand "the significance of game design as not only a potential career but as a way of thinking about the world."
New York University is not the only educational institution evolving its curriculum to include opportunities for studying game design. Earlier this year, George Mason University in Virginia announced plans for a degree which combined sports and the study of game design.
]]> 1100-6421555Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-mimics-youtube-begins-automatically-muting-/1100-6421554/
In December, YouTube began to crack down on the inclusion of copyrighted audio in published videos. It incited extensive backlash against the site, but YouTube stood by its policies. Now, it looks like another website is following in YouTube's footsteps: Twitch, the popular livestreaming site, implemented a censoring system today that automatically scans and mutes sections of archived videos that have copyrighted audio.
Using a program called Audible Magic, Twitch can discover music in archived videos that belongs to clients of the program and instantly mute parts of the video. In 30-minute sections, the audio is removed and the video is rendered silent. And this doesn't just apply to users purposefully playing music over streams, either: in-game and ambient music is being censored, as well.
In a post on Twitch's blog, general counsel Elizabeth Baker explained that this was not a result of lawsuits or external pressure. It was, instead, a decision made to be friendlier toward copyright owners. "Starting today, Twitch will be implementing technology intended to help broadcasters avoid the storage of videos containing unauthorized third-party audio," she wrote. "We respect the rights of copyright owners, and are voluntarily undertaking this effort to help protect both our broadcasters and copyright owners." At the moment, this system only applies to Twitch's videos on demand and not livestreams.
Expectedly, the Twitch community isn't responding well to this new system of censoring audio. Noted speedrunner Cosmo Wright, for example, even said on Twitter that he was thinking about switching streaming services in protest.
And some unintended videos have been censored, as well. One of Twitch's official broadcasts had a long section of its audio muted. You can check out Twitch's video, with the muted section, below.
Additionally, Danny Baranowsky, composer of the music in Crypt of the Necrodancer, didn't even want to enforce his copyright, and he expressed his frustration on Twitter. "Nobody but me has the authority to ask for a takedown of Necrodancer music on Twitch," he said. "If you're getting takedowns please let me know!"
Hitbox, a competitor to Twitch, also tweeted that it was receiving an influx of new users as a result of Twitch's policy change. In fact, so many new users registered on the site that it crashed, according to the site's support account on Twitter.
This follows in the wake of this morning's changes to the way archived videos are stored. According to the Twitch blog, Instead of allowing users to store archived streams indefinitely, Twitch now saves everyone's streams for fourteen days, but then deletes them after that. However, It has released a new video manager to allow users to create "highlights" of up to two hours which are saved forever. It has also made exporting these highlights to YouTube easier.
Recently, rumors reemerged that the site had been acquired by YouTube. Neither YouTube parent company Google nor Twitch have commented on the rumors, but if YouTube is indeed buying Twitch, it would make sense why the sites have similar copyright-protection systems.
If you stream to Twitch, have your videos been affected? Let us know in the comments.
| Alex Newhouse is an editorial intern at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @alexbnewhouse |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Sony Computer Entertainment America alleging consumers were misled by the company's claims that the PlayStation 4-exclusive Killzone: Shadow Fall features 1080p graphics in its multiplayer mode, which came into question earlier this year.
The suit, filed by a gamer by the name of Douglas Ladore in U.S. District Court in California yesterday, claims that gamers "quickly noticed and complained that Killzone's multiplayer graphics were blurry to the point of distraction." This is despite Sony having claimed the game would offer "'1080p' multiplayer graphics, a crowning achievement in the video game industry," and having even featured the 1080p figure on the game's box.
Ladore is seeking to prevent Sony from continuing to advertise the game as being 1080p, and is looking for damages--to the tune of more than $5 million.
A Digital Foundry report earlier this year revealed that the game uses technical trickery--a technique called temporal reprojection--to achieve its resolution. The lawsuit says this is meant to provide "'subjectively similar' results" to full 1080p, but that it just isn't the same.
It attributes the game's sales to these claims of 1080p graphics, saying people were misled. "Because of the dozens of reports about Killzone's next-generation multiplayer graphics, along with the unqualified '1080P' label on the game's consumer-facing technical specifications, over 2 million consumers purchased Killzone: Shadow Fall," the complaint states. "Unfortunately, Sony's marketing and on-box representations turned out to be nothing more than fiction."
Complaints about blurry multiplayer graphics are then cited before bringing up the aforementioned Digital Foundry report, which found the game's multiplayer uses a 960x1080 framebuffer in order to run at 60 frames per second. Developer Guerrilla Games said in response that it would be more precise about its language in the future. But because things like the box haven't been modified to remove what the lawsuit calls "an unqualified '1080p'" listing, "millions of consumers have been tricked into paying full price for a video game that doesn't deliver what is promised."
The complaint goes to describe the "console war" between Sony and Microsoft, claiming Shadow Fall's success was "imperative to Sony and the ultimate success of the PS4."
Ladore, who bought the game in May at Best Buy, claims--in what might be the most ridiculous part of this lawsuit--that he "examined the Killzone retail packaging and confirmed that Killzone would deliver an unrestricted 1080p graphics resolution" before making his purchase. Had he known the full story, he allegedly "would have not have purchased Killzone at all, or would have paid substantially less for it." The lawsuit even for some reason notes, "Relying on those reports, Plaintiff chose to purchase the Killzone video game using Best Buy's 'free store pickup' service. Thus, Plaintiff reserved a copy of Killzone on Best Buy's website and traveled to a local Best Buy store to complete his purchase."
When contacted for comment, Sony declined, citing its policy of not addressing pending litigation.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
Developer Neversoft, which was recently folded into Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward and no longer exists on its own, released a new Tony Hawk game every year in the nine-year stretch from 1999 to 2007 (chart below). The series is now on hiatus and there is no telling when it will return. Don't blame the annualization of the series for why it's now on the shelf, however, according to Neversoft co-founder Joel Jewett.
"I disagree with that," Jewell told Game Informer in response to a question about whether or not the annualization of the series hurt the Tony Hawk brand overall. "It's hard to catch lightning in a bottle, and if you do, you just wanna run. The world's going to change. Like right now, is skateboarding as popular as it was at that time? No. I just think you wanna have fun, work hard, and capitalize on it if you have something like that."
"We could've tried to make it last forever and we would've made, like, four games, and it would have had the same lifespan" -- Joel Jewett
Jewett said you can't make something that lasts forever because "the world changes." Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick might disagree, as he has spoken previously about the Grand Theft Auto series being a "permanent" franchise, similar in nature to the long-running James Bond movie series.
"When we quit making the Tony Hawk games, you essentially hit a point in time where our games split the market with Skate, and the market had actually shrunk by then," he said. "People had been there, done that--they're looking for something new. If you were trying to make something last forever, the world changes. We could've tried to make it last forever and we would've made, like, four games, and it would have had the same lifespan."
Elsewhere in the feature, Jewett recalled the day Activision came to Neversoft with the idea for the Tony Hawk series. "They said, 'Hey, there are a ton of people running around with skateboards these days. We did some tests on it. Do you think you guys could make a skateboarding game?' That suited the attitude and vibe of Neversoft," Jewett said.
After the success of Tony Hawk, Neversoft worked on other massive franchises like Guitar Hero and Call of Duty, most recently doing work on Extinction mode for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Though the company is most famous for Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, it had ambitions for its own new IP, as well. Jewett teased, "We worked on a first-person shooter [after Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and before Call of Duty: Ghosts]," he said, explaining that he's not allowed to say more (even though he did). "Let me put it this way, and I think I can say it. We worked on a first-person shooter during that period of time, and hindsight behind 20/20, I think it was freaking awesome and we did some killer work. There are other people out there that would corroborate that. I think it would be cool if people knew more about it...that's all."
Jewett is leaving game development altogether to "come up for some air" after being heads-down in game development for the past two decades. He leaves the company alongside studio director Scott Pease, who is also stepping away from games.
]]> 1100-6421552Wed, 06 Aug 2014 14:44:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fifa-15-features-replays-that-emulate-real-world-g/1100-6421549/Occasionally, a goalie will slap a soccer ball away from the goal line at the last possible moment. In these instances, it's often hard to tell if the ball crossed the line or not. Soccer teams across the world have begun implementing "goal-line technology" to eliminate this uncertainty and make far more precise replays.
Now, Electronic Arts is bringing this same presentation to its newest soccer game, FIFA 15. Developer EA Sports is trying to make even virtual goals impossible to doubt, so it has made a replay system for FIFA 15 that looks identical to real-world goal-line tech. "Goal Decision System will leave no question as to whether or not the ball crossed the line," a press release states. "Replay animations will emulate TV broadcasts playing after close calls and goal line clearances."
This comes as a part of a larger deal with the Barclays Premier League, the most competitive soccer league in Great Britain. EA and the Premier League are attempting to create the most realistic representation of the league's teams and stadiums as possible. This includes three-dimensional head scans of 200 Premier League players, broadcast graphics identical to television broadcasts, audio of fans and crowds taken from real-life games, and every Premier League stadium modeled for the game.
EA Sports has made it clear that it is striving for realism with FIFA 15. In recent weeks, it has revealed that shirt-pulling and player-specific movements are coming to the game, in addition to visible breathing and hair movement. But if you want to play as Brazilian clubs, you're out of luck: EA Sports could not secure enough player licenses to include some teams.
FIFA 15 launches September 23 in North America, September 25 in Europe, and September 26 in the UK. What do you think about all these improvements? Let us know in the comments.
| Alex Newhouse is an editorial intern at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @alexbnewhouse |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
GameStop's simplified trade-in process, which the company confirmed yesterday after internal documents found their way online earlier this week, will indeed begin on August 18. GameStop senior vice president for pre-owned business, Jason Cochran, not only confirmed the start-date for the initiative in an interview with GameSpot today, but also explained how he thinks it will benefit the consumer.
"What we're doing is we're ripping out a lot of that complexity and being able to show or convey a more straightforward way for customers to understand the true buyback price," Cochran said. He explained that GameStop heard from its customers that they want a better way to understand the value of what they sell to the retailer, and this new initiative is a way to deliver on that feedback.
GameStop's current trade-in system has been criticized for being somewhat cumbersome and difficult to understand. Currently, to get the maximum trade value, you often have to apply your credit toward a preorder or another promotion. But come August 18, this will no longer be the case. You'll still see bonus trade-in credit if you're a Powerup Rewards Pro member or if you take credit over cash, but you can soon expect greater visibility for the true value of your games.
"What we're doing is we're ripping out a lot of that complexity" -- Jason Cochran
The introduction of the new initiative comes in the lead-up to the all-important holiday season. GameStop stores are likely to be flooded with shoppers heading into Christmas, but the simplified trade-in structure is only one component of GameStop's new strategy for secondhand games. Cochran also reiterated than fewer than 50 percent of GameStop shoppers even know that the retailer accepts trade-ins.
This is a surprising statistic, given how dependent GameStop is on the secondhand market. But it also shows how much room GameStop still has to grow beyond the $1.2 billion in trade credits the company posted last year. If GameStop can get even more shoppers to trade in their wares, the company could grow its secondhand business to new heights. To help GameStop get there, Cochran said the retailer will ramp up its marketing efforts through its email lists and by communicating directly with customers in-store.
Looking ahead to the August 18 launch of the new trade-in system, Cochran teased that GameStop has some compelling offers in store that gamers won't want to miss.
"We've got a lot of great things lined up on what we look to expose and put out there on the 18th," Cochran said. "Our customers, the gaming community, the publishers, the developers, and the core gamer is really going to appreciate what we're doing to help them buy more products and keep them in the game."
Are you more likely to shop at GameStop when the new trade-in program rolls out this month? Let us know in the comments!
]]> 1100-6421550Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:12:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mario-kart-8-gets-invaded-by-mercedes-benz-cars-la/1100-6421548/
The Mario Kart series has, since its first release 22 years ago, only ever offered fictitious karts for players to drive. That will no longer be the case come August 27, when Nintendo releases a free update for Mario Kart 8 that introduces three drivable Mercedes-Benz cars as part of a marketing partnership we first heard about in May.
Nintendo revealed at the time that the new Mercedes-Benz GLA would be released for use in the Japanese version of Mario Kart 8. It later confirmed that those in North America and Europe would also gain access to the car this summer, before formally announcing the details today.
The GLA will be one of three real-world cars added in the forthcoming update, though it is the only modern one: The other two are a 300SL Roadster from the 1950s and a Silver Arrow from the 1930s. "Special wheel options" are included with the GLA, and all three can be customized with various wheels and gliders. Once the update is released, players will be able to participate in a special Mercedes Cup online competition taking place from August 27-Setember 23.
Some fans have objected to the new cars being added, both because they feel out of place and because they're very clearly intended as part of a marketing campaign. (Don't forget about the McDonald's Happy Meal toys!) I'm not a big fan of them, myself, though I do find Wario sitting in a 300SL to be a funny image.
In addition to the cars, the update will introduce several new features and tweaks. Nintendo's official description of these changes follows below:
- Drivers will now have the option to display the course map on the TV screen during races.
- The order of the menu after each race will be changed to "Next Race," followed by "Watch Highlight Reel."
- The game will remember the most recent kart options that were selected, even if the Wii U system was powered down.
- Users will be able to change options of other players' Mario Kart TV downloaded highlight reels, such as changing the focus to different characters or actions.
- A score screen will be added so players can see how many coins they've collected, the win-loss record of their online battles, and their frequently used characters.
- Improved the stability of the online connection to enhance user experience during online battles.
Nintendo is releasing the update on August 27 to coincide with the 22-year anniversary of the release of the original Super Mario Kart in Japan in 1992. Should all this marketing crossover business turn you off to Mario Kart 8, Nintendo today launched Super Mario Kart on the Wii U Virtual Console for $8.
Will you be giving the Mercedes-Benz cars a try, or do you only care about the other additions in the update? Let us know in the comments.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 rss_modified:rss:9d9437cc2bdadfdb0c2a6594385b5cf5548bd329 http://www.gamespot.com/mashup/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:42:18 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/wii-sports-club-review/1900-6415837/ Wii Sports is an undeniably important game to the whole of gaming history. Its status as a pack-in with the original Wii was responsible for getting the console into millions of homes (and breaking a few TVs), but it also signaled a significant change in player demographics that had been a long time coming. As the Wii U struggles to gain the sort of consumer traction its predecessor had, Nintendo has reissued the now-classic Wii Sports package, updated with a bevy of new bells and whistles. But while Wii Sports was forward-thinking in its ability to engage a different set of game players, Wii Sports Club is a clunky attempt to bring the title up to the standards of current games.
Wii Sports Club features the five original sports from its predecessor: Tennis, Bowling, Golf, Baseball, and Boxing. On a fundamental level, these play similarly to the original game, requiring the player to perform various motions to simulate the acts of swinging a racket, throwing a ball, or launching a punch. The Wii MotionPlus (or a Wii Remote with Wii MotionPlus built-in) is mandatory, and the additional range of gyroscopic control it provides adds a little bit more depth to these games: in Tennis, for example, it's a lot easier to control the type of swings you get than it was with the original Wii Remote, leading to greater control of the ball. Other games utilize the GamePad: in Golf, you position the GamePad on the floor, where it depicts the ball; you then swing the Wii Remote over the pad to hit the ball. Baseball lets you use the GamePad's gyroscopic features to pitch and catch the ball, which is a clever and fun new addition to the formula. For the most part, however, Wii Sports Club is all about that time-tested Wii Remote waggling.
Besides the main games, Wii Sports Club also features mini-games that put twists on the various sports, like launching a tennis ball to hit whack-a-mole targets, trying to bowl down unusual 100-pin patterns, and playing bingo by launching golf balls onto a grid. These games can be played solo or with friends (though not online), and make for a nice distraction if you get bored of the standard sports. These games are all quite short, however, so don't expect to be enthralled by them for very long.
One of the selling points of Wii Sports Club is its online features, and unfortunately, it's here where the collection falters the hardest. When you start the game, you're asked to join a regional "club" of your personal choosing. This isn't restricted by physical geography; I live in California, but I joined the Iowa club because I grew up in that state. You're supposed to socialize with other members of your club, forming friendships and rivalries with other territory clubs, but such socialization is uncommon because the online experience is simply not good at all.
For starters, online play is restricted to very basic rules for each sport, with only bowling featuring any sort of significant rule variations to choose from. Finding opponents is also a challenge. I'd log on during prime time in the evenings, weekends and weekdays, pick my sport of choice, and be sent to a practice room where I'd wait for an opponent for a few minutes before being told the game couldn't find anyone and I would be booted back to the menu. I had the most luck finding people to play Tennis, but trying to find a person to play 100-pin Bowling was like pulling teeth. Looking at the game's Miiverse, I saw plenty of folks discussing their online games with others, so why wasn't I getting any sporting funtimes?
It has much to do with the game's netcode. Wii Sports Club has serious, pervasive problems with lag and stuttering during games. Players in the Miiverse universally reported the same issues, making online play a bust. But beyond the online, how is Wii Sports Club at recapturing the magic of the original Wii Sports and getting non-typical players engaged in the game? I invited a few people I knew who aren't frequent game-players to partake in some virtual sporting with me. While they all seemed to enjoy the games--especially the new mini-games--the GamePad options proved troublesome. (There was a lot of worry about people and pets accidentally stepping on the controller during golf in particular.) There's simply no substantial improvement here--nothing to make the re-release a valuable upgrade over the original.
On top of everything is a rather confusing pricing structure: You can obtain the game as either a free download or in a retail package, but the downloadable version only lets you play for a limited time before you have to purchase a $1.99 24-hour "day pass" or unlimited access to individual sports for $9.99 each. The package version doesn't have any such restrictions, save for the minor inconvenience of having to take the disc in and out of the console, so why not offer a simple, full-access download version as well?
Wii Sports Club is emblematic of Nintendo's strange and silly approach to online games and distribution, given its unintuitive interface for finding sports partners, the consistently poor connection quality, and a pricing strategy that makes little sense. It works a lot better as a local game, but even then, it's not a massive improvement over the original title as a pick-up-and-play party pleaser. It's still great fun, particularly in short bursts, but it's hard to justify plunking down extra cash for Wii Sports Club.
]]> 1900-6415837Thu, 07 Aug 2014 17:49:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-casey-hudson-leaves-bioware-wii-u-name-is-/2300-6420661/ 2300-6420661Thu, 07 Aug 2014 16:21:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/quick-look-mind-path-to-thalamus/2300-6420651/ 2300-6420651Thu, 07 Aug 2014 15:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-build-the-ultimate-s/2300-6420656/ 2300-6420656Thu, 07 Aug 2014 12:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassins-creed-unity-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-and-/1100-6421556/EB Games has announced the line-up of games that will be present at this year's EB Expo. Upcoming releases that will be featured at the show include Assassin's Creed: Unity, Far Cry 4, Evolve, Sunset Overdrive, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Battlefield Hardline, and LittleBigPlanet 3.
Several games scheduled for release in 2015 will also be present at the show, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Driveclub, Project Cars, and Dragon Ball Xenoverse. Attendees who play Skylanders: Trap Team at the event will also be able to receive an exclusive free Gearshift Trap Master Character before it goes on sale in 2015.
EB Expo 2014 will be held at the Sydney Showground from October 3 for three days. This year's event marks the fourth time the expo will be held since it first opened to public in 2011. The GameSpot Australia team will be present at this year's event, so be sure to stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates.
]]> 1100-6421556Wed, 06 Aug 2014 22:10:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-york-university-to-offer-bachelors-degree-in-v/1100-6421555/An undergraduate program for video game design at the New York University Game Center was approved by the New York Education Department last month.
Reported on The New York Times, the NYU Game Center, a department within the Tisch School of the Arts, will soon be accepting applicants for a bachelor of fine arts in game design. Twenty students from within NYU are expected to be accepted into the program in January. They will be followed by 40 first-year applicants starting in Fall 2015.
Game Center director Frank Lantz said that the undergraduate degree would help students to understand "the significance of game design as not only a potential career but as a way of thinking about the world."
New York University is not the only educational institution evolving its curriculum to include opportunities for studying game design. Earlier this year, George Mason University in Virginia announced plans for a degree which combined sports and the study of game design.
]]> 1100-6421555Wed, 06 Aug 2014 19:00:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-mimics-youtube-begins-automatically-muting-/1100-6421554/In December, YouTube began to crack down on the inclusion of copyrighted audio in published videos. It incited extensive backlash against the site, but YouTube stood by its policies. Now, it looks like another website is following in YouTube's footsteps: Twitch, the popular livestreaming site, implemented a censoring system today that automatically scans and mutes sections of archived videos that have copyrighted audio.
Using a program called Audible Magic, Twitch can discover music in archived videos that belongs to clients of the program and instantly mute parts of the video. In 30-minute sections, the audio is removed and the video is rendered silent. And this doesn't just apply to users purposefully playing music over streams, either: in-game and ambient music is being censored, as well.
In a post on Twitch's blog, general counsel Elizabeth Baker explained that this was not a result of lawsuits or external pressure. It was, instead, a decision made to be friendlier toward copyright owners. "Starting today, Twitch will be implementing technology intended to help broadcasters avoid the storage of videos containing unauthorized third-party audio," she wrote. "We respect the rights of copyright owners, and are voluntarily undertaking this effort to help protect both our broadcasters and copyright owners." At the moment, this system only applies to Twitch's videos on demand and not livestreams.
Expectedly, the Twitch community isn't responding well to this new system of censoring audio. Noted speedrunner Cosmo Wright, for example, even said on Twitter that he was thinking about switching streaming services in protest.
And some unintended videos have been censored, as well. One of Twitch's official broadcasts had a long section of its audio muted. You can check out Twitch's video, with the muted section, below.
Additionally, Danny Baranowsky, composer of the music in Crypt of the Necrodancer, didn't even want to enforce his copyright, and he expressed his frustration on Twitter. "Nobody but me has the authority to ask for a takedown of Necrodancer music on Twitch," he said. "If you're getting takedowns please let me know!"
Hitbox, a competitor to Twitch, also tweeted that it was receiving an influx of new users as a result of Twitch's policy change. In fact, so many new users registered on the site that it crashed, according to the site's support account on Twitter.
This follows in the wake of this morning's changes to the way archived videos are stored. According to the Twitch blog, Instead of allowing users to store archived streams indefinitely, Twitch now saves everyone's streams for fourteen days, but then deletes them after that. However, It has released a new video manager to allow users to create "highlights" of up to two hours which are saved forever. It has also made exporting these highlights to YouTube easier.
Recently, rumors reemerged that the site had been acquired by YouTube. Neither YouTube parent company Google nor Twitch have commented on the rumors, but if YouTube is indeed buying Twitch, it would make sense why the sites have similar copyright-protection systems.
If you stream to Twitch, have your videos been affected? Let us know in the comments.
| Alex Newhouse is an editorial intern at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @alexbnewhouse |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Sony Computer Entertainment America alleging consumers were misled by the company's claims that the PlayStation 4-exclusive Killzone: Shadow Fall features 1080p graphics in its multiplayer mode, which came into question earlier this year.
The suit, filed by a gamer by the name of Douglas Ladore in U.S. District Court in California yesterday, claims that gamers "quickly noticed and complained that Killzone's multiplayer graphics were blurry to the point of distraction." This is despite Sony having claimed the game would offer "'1080p' multiplayer graphics, a crowning achievement in the video game industry," and having even featured the 1080p figure on the game's box.
Ladore is seeking to prevent Sony from continuing to advertise the game as being 1080p, and is looking for damages--to the tune of more than $5 million.
A Digital Foundry report earlier this year revealed that the game uses technical trickery--a technique called temporal reprojection--to achieve its resolution. The lawsuit says this is meant to provide "'subjectively similar' results" to full 1080p, but that it just isn't the same.
It attributes the game's sales to these claims of 1080p graphics, saying people were misled. "Because of the dozens of reports about Killzone's next-generation multiplayer graphics, along with the unqualified '1080P' label on the game's consumer-facing technical specifications, over 2 million consumers purchased Killzone: Shadow Fall," the complaint states. "Unfortunately, Sony's marketing and on-box representations turned out to be nothing more than fiction."
Complaints about blurry multiplayer graphics are then cited before bringing up the aforementioned Digital Foundry report, which found the game's multiplayer uses a 960x1080 framebuffer in order to run at 60 frames per second. Developer Guerrilla Games said in response that it would be more precise about its language in the future. But because things like the box haven't been modified to remove what the lawsuit calls "an unqualified '1080p'" listing, "millions of consumers have been tricked into paying full price for a video game that doesn't deliver what is promised."
The complaint goes to describe the "console war" between Sony and Microsoft, claiming Shadow Fall's success was "imperative to Sony and the ultimate success of the PS4."
Ladore, who bought the game in May at Best Buy, claims--in what might be the most ridiculous part of this lawsuit--that he "examined the Killzone retail packaging and confirmed that Killzone would deliver an unrestricted 1080p graphics resolution" before making his purchase. Had he known the full story, he allegedly "would have not have purchased Killzone at all, or would have paid substantially less for it." The lawsuit even for some reason notes, "Relying on those reports, Plaintiff chose to purchase the Killzone video game using Best Buy's 'free store pickup' service. Thus, Plaintiff reserved a copy of Killzone on Best Buy's website and traveled to a local Best Buy store to complete his purchase."
When contacted for comment, Sony declined, citing its policy of not addressing pending litigation.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
Developer Neversoft, which was recently folded into Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward and no longer exists on its own, released a new Tony Hawk game every year in the nine-year stretch from 1999 to 2007 (chart below). The series is now on hiatus and there is no telling when it will return. Don't blame the annualization of the series for why it's now on the shelf, however, according to Neversoft co-founder Joel Jewett.
"I disagree with that," Jewell told Game Informer in response to a question about whether or not the annualization of the series hurt the Tony Hawk brand overall. "It's hard to catch lightning in a bottle, and if you do, you just wanna run. The world's going to change. Like right now, is skateboarding as popular as it was at that time? No. I just think you wanna have fun, work hard, and capitalize on it if you have something like that."
"We could've tried to make it last forever and we would've made, like, four games, and it would have had the same lifespan" -- Joel Jewett
Jewett said you can't make something that lasts forever because "the world changes." Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick might disagree, as he has spoken previously about the Grand Theft Auto series being a "permanent" franchise, similar in nature to the long-running James Bond movie series.
"When we quit making the Tony Hawk games, you essentially hit a point in time where our games split the market with Skate, and the market had actually shrunk by then," he said. "People had been there, done that--they're looking for something new. If you were trying to make something last forever, the world changes. We could've tried to make it last forever and we would've made, like, four games, and it would have had the same lifespan."
Elsewhere in the feature, Jewett recalled the day Activision came to Neversoft with the idea for the Tony Hawk series. "They said, 'Hey, there are a ton of people running around with skateboards these days. We did some tests on it. Do you think you guys could make a skateboarding game?' That suited the attitude and vibe of Neversoft," Jewett said.
After the success of Tony Hawk, Neversoft worked on other massive franchises like Guitar Hero and Call of Duty, most recently doing work on Extinction mode for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Though the company is most famous for Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, it had ambitions for its own new IP, as well. Jewett teased, "We worked on a first-person shooter [after Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and before Call of Duty: Ghosts]," he said, explaining that he's not allowed to say more (even though he did). "Let me put it this way, and I think I can say it. We worked on a first-person shooter during that period of time, and hindsight behind 20/20, I think it was freaking awesome and we did some killer work. There are other people out there that would corroborate that. I think it would be cool if people knew more about it...that's all."
Jewett is leaving game development altogether to "come up for some air" after being heads-down in game development for the past two decades. He leaves the company alongside studio director Scott Pease, who is also stepping away from games.
]]> 1100-6421552Wed, 06 Aug 2014 14:44:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fifa-15-features-replays-that-emulate-real-world-g/1100-6421549/Occasionally, a goalie will slap a soccer ball away from the goal line at the last possible moment. In these instances, it's often hard to tell if the ball crossed the line or not. Soccer teams across the world have begun implementing "goal-line technology" to eliminate this uncertainty and make far more precise replays.
Now, Electronic Arts is bringing this same presentation to its newest soccer game, FIFA 15. Developer EA Sports is trying to make even virtual goals impossible to doubt, so it has made a replay system for FIFA 15 that looks identical to real-world goal-line tech. "Goal Decision System will leave no question as to whether or not the ball crossed the line," a press release states. "Replay animations will emulate TV broadcasts playing after close calls and goal line clearances."
This comes as a part of a larger deal with the Barclays Premier League, the most competitive soccer league in Great Britain. EA and the Premier League are attempting to create the most realistic representation of the league's teams and stadiums as possible. This includes three-dimensional head scans of 200 Premier League players, broadcast graphics identical to television broadcasts, audio of fans and crowds taken from real-life games, and every Premier League stadium modeled for the game.
EA Sports has made it clear that it is striving for realism with FIFA 15. In recent weeks, it has revealed that shirt-pulling and player-specific movements are coming to the game, in addition to visible breathing and hair movement. But if you want to play as Brazilian clubs, you're out of luck: EA Sports could not secure enough player licenses to include some teams.
FIFA 15 launches September 23 in North America, September 25 in Europe, and September 26 in the UK. What do you think about all these improvements? Let us know in the comments.
| Alex Newhouse is an editorial intern at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @alexbnewhouse |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
GameStop's simplified trade-in process, which the company confirmed yesterday after internal documents found their way online earlier this week, will indeed begin on August 18. GameStop senior vice president for pre-owned business, Jason Cochran, not only confirmed the start-date for the initiative in an interview with GameSpot today, but also explained how he thinks it will benefit the consumer.
"What we're doing is we're ripping out a lot of that complexity and being able to show or convey a more straightforward way for customers to understand the true buyback price," Cochran said. He explained that GameStop heard from its customers that they want a better way to understand the value of what they sell to the retailer, and this new initiative is a way to deliver on that feedback.
GameStop's current trade-in system has been criticized for being somewhat cumbersome and difficult to understand. Currently, to get the maximum trade value, you often have to apply your credit toward a preorder or another promotion. But come August 18, this will no longer be the case. You'll still see bonus trade-in credit if you're a Powerup Rewards Pro member or if you take credit over cash, but you can soon expect greater visibility for the true value of your games.
"What we're doing is we're ripping out a lot of that complexity" -- Jason Cochran
The introduction of the new initiative comes in the lead-up to the all-important holiday season. GameStop stores are likely to be flooded with shoppers heading into Christmas, but the simplified trade-in structure is only one component of GameStop's new strategy for secondhand games. Cochran also reiterated than fewer than 50 percent of GameStop shoppers even know that the retailer accepts trade-ins.
This is a surprising statistic, given how dependent GameStop is on the secondhand market. But it also shows how much room GameStop still has to grow beyond the $1.2 billion in trade credits the company posted last year. If GameStop can get even more shoppers to trade in their wares, the company could grow its secondhand business to new heights. To help GameStop get there, Cochran said the retailer will ramp up its marketing efforts through its email lists and by communicating directly with customers in-store.
Looking ahead to the August 18 launch of the new trade-in system, Cochran teased that GameStop has some compelling offers in store that gamers won't want to miss.
"We've got a lot of great things lined up on what we look to expose and put out there on the 18th," Cochran said. "Our customers, the gaming community, the publishers, the developers, and the core gamer is really going to appreciate what we're doing to help them buy more products and keep them in the game."
Are you more likely to shop at GameStop when the new trade-in program rolls out this month? Let us know in the comments!
]]> 1100-6421550Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:12:00 -0700 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mario-kart-8-gets-invaded-by-mercedes-benz-cars-la/1100-6421548/The Mario Kart series has, since its first release 22 years ago, only ever offered fictitious karts for players to drive. That will no longer be the case come August 27, when Nintendo releases a free update for Mario Kart 8 that introduces three drivable Mercedes-Benz cars as part of a marketing partnership we first heard about in May.
Nintendo revealed at the time that the new Mercedes-Benz GLA would be released for use in the Japanese version of Mario Kart 8. It later confirmed that those in North America and Europe would also gain access to the car this summer, before formally announcing the details today.
The GLA will be one of three real-world cars added in the forthcoming update, though it is the only modern one: The other two are a 300SL Roadster from the 1950s and a Silver Arrow from the 1930s. "Special wheel options" are included with the GLA, and all three can be customized with various wheels and gliders. Once the update is released, players will be able to participate in a special Mercedes Cup online competition taking place from August 27-Setember 23.
Some fans have objected to the new cars being added, both because they feel out of place and because they're very clearly intended as part of a marketing campaign. (Don't forget about the McDonald's Happy Meal toys!) I'm not a big fan of them, myself, though I do find Wario sitting in a 300SL to be a funny image.
In addition to the cars, the update will introduce several new features and tweaks. Nintendo's official description of these changes follows below:
- Drivers will now have the option to display the course map on the TV screen during races.
- The order of the menu after each race will be changed to "Next Race," followed by "Watch Highlight Reel."
- The game will remember the most recent kart options that were selected, even if the Wii U system was powered down.
- Users will be able to change options of other players' Mario Kart TV downloaded highlight reels, such as changing the focus to different characters or actions.
- A score screen will be added so players can see how many coins they've collected, the win-loss record of their online battles, and their frequently used characters.
- Improved the stability of the online connection to enhance user experience during online battles.
Nintendo is releasing the update on August 27 to coincide with the 22-year anniversary of the release of the original Super Mario Kart in Japan in 1992. Should all this marketing crossover business turn you off to Mario Kart 8, Nintendo today launched Super Mario Kart on the Wii U Virtual Console for $8.
Will you be giving the Mercedes-Benz cars a try, or do you only care about the other additions in the update? Let us know in the comments.
| Chris Pereira is a freelance writer for GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @TheSmokingManX |
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| Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com |
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